The Gift of a Second Chance
by alfamikepapa
Summary: Alex knew that death comes for all of us. War had taught him that very well. Only, he had hoped that his death would have come at a lot later point of his life. But that was not to be. Or was it? Seems like second chances do exist. The only problem is that with this particular opportunity, the rules are different, and the consequences of failure will be far more... permanent.


_The Gift of a Second Chance_

 _Prologue_

Out of the Fire

* * *

New Mexico, The United States of America

I-Day + 940

Alex rose from behind the log, and opened fire, the SAW kicking against his shoulder as he laid down another 3 second burst. He ducked down again, sitting amid a pile of spent 5.56 cartridges, his mouth pursing as he tired to hold back a cry of pain. He looked down, seeing the blood soaked leg, the darkness on his pant legs distinct.

 _Well, today is a good day to die as any other, I suppose…_

He looked around, noting his dead teammates, his eyes pausing on one particular form.

 _Dammit_. _Well, Austin, looks like you're going to have to wait on that drink I owe you. At, least, for a few more minutes._

Grabbing a grenade and fulling the pin, he threw it over his shoulder. The cries of pain that came after the explosion only delayed the inevitable.

 _Well, at least I can bring a few with me down to hell,_ _G_ _od only knows the more, the merrier._

A distinct whistle came over his head, the frequency dropping before…

 **CRASH!**

Alex sighed. _Mortars. Just fucking great._

* * *

Ruby sighed, boredom creeping in her mind as she waited for her sister to finish her homework. Procrastination seemed to be a trait that ran in her family, though Yang seemed to have been hit the hardest. The only reason Yang was actually doing it right now was because of Weiss, who had put her foot down about Yang's laziness.

While Blake read her book and Weiss supervised Yang, Ruby waited. And waited. And wa-

Ruby sighed again, and Weiss looked over, frowning, "You know, you too could be studying right now. Your grades aren't as good as one might like."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "They're good enough. Besides, I'm not sure I can read another sentence from that stupid history book. We should be outside, not stuck in here, the day's too nice to-"

Her scroll vibrated, and she answered it.

"Hello? Yes. Right now? We'll be right there professor."

As Ruby closed the scroll, she looked up, noting the questioning looks of her teammates.

"We need to head over to Ozpin's office."

* * *

Alex coughed, and blinked his eyes. He was done. There was nothing more that he could do. The next few seconds were going to be his last. He held the grenade in his hand as if it was his own child. The moment those fuckers came over to get him…

A child. He would never get to experience that. He had never had the time for relationships, let alone marry. And now, he was going die. God, he was going to die.

 _Dead at 18. What the fuck is wrong with this world…_

* * *

Team RWBY entered the office, the sight of the sky grabbing their attention for a brief moment, before they noticed the others in the room with them.

Ozpin stood next to the ever stern Ms. Goodwitch, with Team JNPR at attention in front of them.

He had his ever thoughtful look on his face, but smiled when Team RWBY came in.

"Excellent, I believe I can begin with the briefing," Goodwitch stated as she noted their entrance.

When the team's exchanged their greetings, Ozpin began to speak. As he continued, the hunters and huntresses in training could not but help feel rather shocked at what needed to be done.

* * *

The first thing that Alex felt was… grass. It had to be grass. Yes, grass in heaven. Or was he in hell?

That's when he noticed the next thing. The pain, it wasn't there. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see the blue sky. And that's when he noted the next problem. The smell. The blood, sweat and fear was gone. Only, now Alex smelled something else. It made him wrinkle his nose.

It was shit. He quickly got up, and looked down. Yeah, he had been lying in a pile of shit.

 _Nice…_

Looking around, his confusion only began to mount as he tried to orient himself. He wasn't in the mountain deserts of New Mexico anymore. More like… in the forests of his childhood.

 _But if I'm "dead" though, where the hell am I?_


End file.
